Almeida’s Cleaning Earns Esteemed 2014 Angie’s List Super Service Award

Almeida’s Cleaning Earns Esteemed 2014 Angie’s List Super Service Award

Award reflects company’s consistently high level of customer service

Almeida’s Cleaning has earned the service industry’s coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award, reflecting an exemplary year of service provided to members of the local services marketplace and consumer review site in 2014.

“Only about 5 percent of the House Cleaning companies in the Metro West Area have performed so consistently well enough to earn our Super Service Award,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “It’s a really high standard.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award 2014 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, which include an “A” rating in overall grade, recent grade, and review period grade; the company must be in good standing with Angie’s List, pass a background check and abide by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in areas ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality.

Angie's List helps facilitate happy transactions between nearly 3 million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly-rated service providers in 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. Built on a foundation of authentic reviews of local service, Angie's List connects consumers directly to its online marketplace of services from member-reviewed providers, and offers unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

How To Make Your Own Lemon Dust Cloths

Roll or fold the rinds into each cloth, and place into your glass container. Add an extra lemon peel, and make sure lid is tight. Store until needed.

 

 

 

Who knew dust cloths could be so pretty? I found this tutorial in A Guide to Green Housekeeping. It makes my wooden furniture shiny and leaves my apartment smelling fresh. And chances are, you already have everything you need to make these cloths in your kitchen.

What You Need

Materials
Water
White distilled vinegar
Olive Oil
Rags
Lemons
Airtight glass container

Instructions

1. Mix equal parts water and vinegar. Add a couple drops of olive oil.
2. Soak rags in the solution until fully saturated. I used old dishcloths that I cut into fourths with pinking shears.
3. Wring out the rags leaving them just damp.
4. Lay the rags, and place a couple lemon rinds on each cloth.
5. Roll or fold the rinds into each cloth, and place into your glass container. Add an extra lemon peel, and make sure lid is tight. Store until needed.
Additional notes: Once used, wash or boil the dust cloths and repeat the steps above for a new batch!

The Do’s & Don’ts for Cleaning Stainless Steel

Stainless steel adds an image of elegance and sophistication to any kitchen, and the beauty of that is how easy it is to keep clean. Here is what to do and what not to do when cleaning your stainless steel appliances so that they will keep their luster and shine for years to come.

What to do:

1. Always start by cleaning with warm water and a cloth, or a microfiber cloth first.
2. Spray with glass cleaner to clean off fingerprints.
3. Use dish washing liquid and warm water to clean tougher stains and dirt.
4. Use a stainless steel cleaner to remove stains if needed, but always read the directions and test a small spot on the appliance first.
5. Wipe in the direction of the grain to avoid leaving streaks.
6. Always towel dry after cleaning to prevent water spotting.

What not to do:

1. Never use steel wool or steel brushes. They will scratch the surface of your stainless steel and make it more susceptible to rusting and staining.
2. Abrasive cleaners will scratch the surface and should always be avoided.
3. Bleach will stain and damage stainless steel, do not use cleaning sprays or solutions that contain bleach.
4. Dirty water and cleaning solutions can leave a residue that can stain and damage the surface, so don’t forget to rinse and dry.

The keys to helping your stainless steel appliances avoid stains and corrosion is proper care and maintenance. With just a little effort, your appliances will stay looking shiny and new.

Get Your Home Clean and Organized This Weekend

No one likes a cluttered house. But, unfortunately, no one likes cleaning a cluttered house either, especially when it's so hard to keep clean. Take some time this weekend to declutter once and for all, and figure out an organizational scheme that works for you.

Step One: Get Rid of Your Crap

Before you can have a truly organized house, you need to purge all the stuff you don't need. Before you do anything, form an attack plan. One of the best ways to declutter your home is to create a detailed inventory, and we've shared lots of solutions for doing so in the past. Once you've highlighted all the things you can downsize, it's time to get to work. Check out our guides on kicking your clutter habit for good and de-crapifying your home to get started. Your home office is probably its own beast, so be sure to dedicate specific time to that with our guide to getting out from under your office crap, and organizing those piles of paper into something manageable. Once you've gotten rid of the clutter you don't need, you'll be much better off when it comes to organizing everything else. Photo by Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose.

Find Better Ways to Organize Your Stuff

Now that you've gotten rid of the crap, it's time to organize the stuff you have left to make it more useful to you during your day. Once again, form a good plan of attack before you do anything else. Go through all your leftover stuff and make sure each item has a home. If you aren't sure where to put something, don't waste time on it. Put it in a clutter bucket that you can decide on after you're done with everything else. If you need help keeping everything clean, there are a lot of gadgets that can help, as well as stuff you probably already have lying around. Go through each room and see where the weak points are. Too much clutter spreading itself through your house? Get a landing strip for the front door. Can't find anything in your desk drawers? Organize them by a hierarchy of importance. Fill dresser drawers front to back so you can see everything inside, and find a place for your kitchen stuff that keeps floating around your cupboards (like pot lids).
Remember though, the object isn't to get everything picture-perfect. That's a waste of time. The goal is to get everything just organized enough so that you can find and access everything you need in a timely fashion. Sometimes, that means de-organizing: your silverware or sock drawers don't always need to be separated and organized perfectly, for example. You'll spend more time organizing them than you ever would searching for the right thing when you need it.

Make Sure You Keep It Clean

Once you've gone through all that work, you probably won't ever want to do it again, so now comes the (seemingly) hardest part: keeping everything clean and organized. It's much easier than it seems, though: in fact, by putting all those chores on autopilot, you can keep everything clean with what feels like minimal amounts of work. For example, instead of striving for perfection and going through big cleaning sessions every once in a while, just clean up 15 minutes a day. After 15 minutes, stop. You'd be surprised how quickly you get to perfection with such little effort. Every time you leave a room, take one item that doesn't belong there with you. And, every night, reboot your office to make sure you come back to a clean workspace in the morning. A few minutes a day is all it takes to keep everything clean and organized for the long haul, and once you've worked it into your daily routine, it'll be so easy to keep up you won't even notice you're doing it. Good luck!

Quickly De-Stink Your House by Cooking Vanilla Extract or Any Essential Oil

 

Perhaps your house doesn't smell particularly nice and you've got company on the way. While you might not clear the smell up forever, you can improve your home's scent by burning some vanilla extract or any other essential oil.

Put two caps full of vanilla extract (you can use other oils, such as lemon and lavender) in a coffee cup (or oven proof dish), then place it in the oven at 300 degrees for one hour. The smell will start to spread after around twenty minutes and encompass the whole house after the hour duration.
Should last for at least a day.

Although not a permanent solution, if you need to remove a bad smell or just want a nice one in your home, this sounds like a pretty simple solution.

Every once in a while I will take a damp cloth and wipe down my mini blinds to catch some of the dust, and then remember oh yeah...that doesn't work.  The cloth just pushes the dust around so that it clumps and looks even worse than it did before!

Here is how to clean you mini blinds so that they are actually clean!

1.  Take them down and place them in your bathtub.
2.  Run warm water and add a couple big squeezes of dish soap and about a cup of vinegar.
3.  Fill just until the water level comes up over the mini blinds.
4. Give blinds a swish around the sudsy tub and then let soak for one hour.
5. Come back, swish some more, and drain tub.  Rinse with clean water to remove soap residue.
6. Give the blinds a gentle shake to remove some water, hang them back up and let them dry.
7. Wasn't that easy?

Happy Cleaning!

How to Clean Your House in 15 Minutes or Less

Your holiday guests are arriving in 15 minutes and your house is not exactly the epitome of cleanliness. Don't panic! Here are a few tips and strategies for cleaning your house in 15 minutes—or at least giving the appearance of having a spotless domicile.

A lot can get done in a few short minutes if you're smart with your time and strategic with your cleaning choices. You don't have time to engage in serious cleaning with your full collection of cleaning equipment and products. This is not necessarily the time to thoroughly clean the microwave or the dishwasher, even though those tasks need to get done at some point.

Think about strategy

Spend 30 seconds thinking about your strategy: You might even grab a notepad and jot down a brief housecleaning checklist. The key is to keep moving so that you do not get bogged down with one particular task. It is better to hit several areas for a brief time than to spend all 15 minutes on one job. Think big picture and cover all the areas that are important.

Focus on specific rooms

When people come over, your time together may be limited to particular spaces. This typically includes the kitchen, 1 bathroom, and a gathering space, such as a den or dining room. Concentrate on these spaces as most guests don't wander to other rooms or open closets. If you want to prioritize, spend an extra minute or 2 in the bathroom, as a dirty bathroom can be especially obvious to a guest.

Hit the big spaces

If you are going to clean anything, you may want to clean the floors in common spaces. Sweeping up the kitchen and vacuuming the den may only take a couple of minutes, and it can make a big difference in terms of perception and overall appearance. If anything, the tracks left on a freshly vacuumed carpet may give guests the general appearance of more concentrated cleaning. In the event that you do not have time to get out this type of equipment, at least spend a minute looking around common areas and picking up noticeable pieces of trash and junk.

Stash away clutter

A house can accumulate a level of clutter. Focus on "picking up." Ideally you would put everything in its proper place, but with the clock ticking it may be best to:

Grab a laundry basket and/or unused tote bags and go through the house and collect everything that is not intended for that space.

Stash the laundry basket and bags in a room that will not be used. Stuffing items in a closet or under the bed may also be a possibility, but if your house is already cluttered, chances are, those spaces are already occupied by previous de-cluttering sessions.

Note: Consider grouping all your mail and paper clutter together so that you don't lose important documents or bills and can sort through them after your guests leave.

Cleaning tips

Enlist help: When it comes to quickly cleaning the house, it is all hands on deck. Grab the kids and the significant other and put them to work. Younger kids may not know how to clean a house effectively, but they may be able to handle the gathering of clutter.

Employ distractions: It isn't as if you want to deceive your guests, but there is nothing wrong with creating a little bit of atmosphere. Therefore, lighting a couple of candles may contribute to a cozy atmosphere that takes attention away from the fact that you weren't able to deep clean the house. If the candles are scented, this may also provide a pleasant smell that hides other odors.

Leave time to get yourself ready: You do only have 15 minutes, but at some point you have to call it good and stop the cleaning process. Leave a couple of minutes to get ready so that you don't feel rushed. You don't want to be on your hands and knees, scrubbing the floor when your guests arrive. Do your best, but make sure you enjoy the reason for cleaning the house in the first place. You can do a lot in 15 minutes, but if it isn't perfect, life will go on.

Equipment and supplies

Vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner may make a large difference when it comes to the overall appearance. You obviously have limited time, but if you are going to drag out a piece of cleaning equipment, go for the vacuum cleaner.

Disposable floor mop and dusting pads. In terms of hard surfaces, it may not be feasible to get out a bucket and mop. The nice thing is that today there are various floor cleaners that are designed for fast cleaning.

Dry dust cloths can be used to dust obvious surfaces. These clothes are designed to pick up more dust than the average rag. Again, watch your time and only dust those areas that may be obvious to anyone in the room.

Disinfectant wipes are intended for multiple surfaces. Grab a couple of these and wipe down the kitchen counter and various bathroom surfaces.

Paper towels will help you to quickly dry wet surfaces and buff surfaces to an impressive shine. A shiny surface in common areas will go a long way to establishing appearances.

Toilet scrubbers with disposable cleaning heads allow you to clean the bowl and toss the scrubbing head without using additional supplies or requiring extra cleanup.

Air freshener can help to quickly brighten up the air in your home.

Tip: Use baby wipes to freshen surfaces and add shine if you're in a pinch.

Housecleaning checklist

Before you start, list your priority rooms: Quickly jot down the rooms that will be used and focus your efforts there (usually the kitchen, a bathroom, the dining room, and sitting room). Stick the list and a pen in your pocket and cross them off as you go. Below is a basic checklist to help you get started.

Note: Remember, there is no time for deep cleaning, and you still need to leave yourself some time to get ready. Use your best judgment to sacrifice cleaning where you can.

Kitchen

• Toss a lemon peel into the garbage disposal and run it.
• Clear clutter off the kitchen table and counter tops-put papers into bags, items into cupboards.
• Wipe down counters and the table with disinfectant wipes.

Bathroom

• Use a toilet scrubber or wand with a disposable cleaning head to scrub the bowl clean of stains and smells.

• Clean the toilet seat (surface and underside) with a disinfectant wipe and quickly towel it dry.
• Wipe the mirror clean using a lint-free cloth (or newspaper) and glass cleaner.
• Wipe down the sink, the sink basin and faucet with disinfectant wipes and paper towels.
• Close your shower curtain.
• Tip: If you have extra time, mop or dust the floor to clear it of hair and other debris. Otherwise, throw down a fresh bathroom mat to cover up what you missed.

Dining room

• Clear accumulated papers and books and junk off of the dining room table.
• Dust the dining table surface with dust cloths or lay a tablecloth over it.
• Run a floor duster/mop (with disposable pads) quickly across the floor.

Sitting room

• Clear clutter into bins or bags and hide out of sight (closets or a closed off room).
• Vacuum the carpet or dust/mop the floor with a disposable cloth system.

Common areas

• Walk through your home spraying air freshener in each of the areas where your guests will spend time.
• Light a scented candle in the foyer or sitting room.